August Is Gone, But We Have September
by NaciSTORM
Summary: Cameron Quiseng is from West Central High School. Sydney Bender is from East. Their lives were so far apart until Cameron, who is starting a band, got a job very very close to Sydney's house. Anything's possible in the summer. Allstar Weekend love story!
1. Chapter 1

I swore under my breathe as I hit yet another dead end. I couldn't have gotten any more in the middle of nowhere. All I wanted was to earn some money in the middle of the last month of summer. Some guy just outside of my town named John Bender needed help with yard work. He said he was trying to sell his house or something. Whatever, I didn't care, the point is, it was work. Well, it would be, once I found it. For now, I was driving in circles...

So twenty minutes later I ended up finding the house. It wasn't that much in the middle of nowhere, I just didn't know the area that well. Anyway, I got out of my old red pickup truck and walked up to knock on the door. John seemed pretty nice. A bit eccentric, but not a bad guy. I could see why he needed the help, he was getting up there in age. He told me on the phone he had kids around my age, seventeen, and older. _Why couldn't they help him? _I wondered. I shook that pointless thought off and walked out to the hot tub in the backyard he wanted me to fix. It was pretty large, but totally trashed and there were some boards and junk on top of it.

"So it needs to be rewired and the jets need to be cleaned out. You should probably move those boards too. And then it's gonna have to be re-tiled and all, but we can save that for another day."

"Sure thing, sir. It'll be done in no time."

"Cameron, those boards are pretty heavy, are you sure you can move them yourself? " asked John's wife, Jodie, who was watering the lifeless plants in the garden.

"I'll be fine," I said.

"Do you want me to get Sid to help him?" John asked Jodie.

"That's a great idea. Sid could use some money. And we don't want Cameron here getting hurt," she added shooting a warm smile my way.

John went to go find this Sid guy while Jodie left to make coffee. So I waited.

I heard footsteps, so I looked up, only to see a beautiful girl standing with John. My heart pounded and my palms got sweaty when I saw her. She seemed about my age, with shoulder-length, curly, light brown hair and big eyes that were the prettiest shade of emerald. She wore denim skinny jeans and a shirt with a character I recognized from Invader Zim. I meant to say hello, but what came out was,

"Nice shirt. I'll never forget Invader Zim." She seemed confused, as did John, but then her bewilderment disappeared as she realized what she was wearing.

"Oh, wow, thanks! I didn't think anyone remembered that show!" Her voice was angelic.

"Anyway," said a seemingly uncomfortable John, "Cameron, this is my daughter Sydney. She's going to help you out whenever you need it."

"Hi!" she said enthusiastically. I grinned. I could get used to this girl. This must have been obvious, because John left awkwardly to go do something. Poor guy, he's got a cute daughter, he must have boys after her left and right.

As soon as her dad left, Sydney's posture and aura completely changed.

"So, what's my dad underpaying us to do?" I pointed to the boards and we began to lift them together in an awkward yet comfortable silence. She was actually really strong.

"So I'm guessing you're a daddy's girl." I said finally, smirking. She gave me a look.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, your whole attitude changed as soon as John left." She sighed as if thinking about something. It was such a long pause I thought she forgot I was there.

"Yeah, I am. I mean, I guess. He's real protective, so I tend to not tell him about what really happens in my life. He wants me to be this perfect girl, but it's so stressful. He actually threatened to take away my TV priveliges if I got a B in honors algebra one. And that was in the eighth grade!" Now I saw why it took so long for her to answer. She just practically exploded. As an afterthought, she said,"Sorry for venting on you."

"Nah, it's okay. Wow, that's rough. My dad just tells me to do my best and get into college, 'cause if I turn twenty and don't have my own place or go to college, he's kicking me out."

"Yeah, but can you talk to him about other stuff? Like about your friends and stuff?" This was some pretty odd small talk. But she seemed really sincerely interested, so I told her.

"Sure. I can talk to him about anything," I told her. There was a long pause. I wondered if she had a boyfriend. I had to find out. I hesitated, then said tentatively, "Do you talk to him about guys and stuff?" She laughed.

"You're kidding right?"

"That's a no. So that means your boyfriend is a secret." She stared at me for a long time, then smirked.

"What makes you think I have a boyfriend?"

"Your telling me you _don't_ have boys falling all over you at school? 'Cause if not, they're pretty stupid." She blushed, and I felt myself grin. Blushing was a good sign, right?

"Then according to you, all the boys at my school are stupid because I've never had a boyfriend." I had to bite my cheek to keep from smiling.

"No way," I said incredoulously, "What, do you go to an all-girls school or something?"

"Nope. I think I might actually be asked out more if I went to an all-girls school," she said. "But enough about me, I'm sick of venting. How about your life? You look pretty strong, and attractive. Athlete? Nine girlfriends in a week?" It was my turn to blush. Was I that good looking? Or was she just being polite?

"Nope. I've only had one girlfriend, and I'd rather not talk about that experience." She laughed and told me she was going to go change into some shorts, and to escape this conversation. Once she left I went back to work. Gosh, was it hot.

Those days with Sydney went by really fast. After about two weeks, once we finished with the hot tub, Sydney stopped helping me and I began another project. It had probably been a week since I'd last seen Sydney when I heard the door slam and she came out in a tank top and board shorts. All I could think was _Wow, she's gorgeous_. Then I felt my face get hit with something and realized they were swim trunks.

"Quit staring and get changed," Sydney had a bossy look on her face but I could tell she was kidding from the way her mouth was quirking into a smile.

"What's up?" I asked.

"My dad told me to tell you you're done for the day, so I decided that if you don't have any other plans, you're taking me to the beach." I smiled.

"Alright. Be right back."

I slid into the driver's seat of my truck and she slid into shotgun. I get a devious idea and grinned.

"Uhmmm... The shotgun seatbelt is broken. You're gonna have to sit in the middle here." She rolled her eyes, as if to tell me I'm not her father, so I said, "Sydney Marie Bender, Daddy wouldn't want to find out you didn't wear a seatbelt, would he?" She scowled and slid closer to me, putting on the middle seat belt.

"How did you know my middle name?" she asked.

"I didn't," I laughed, "but now I do."

"I swear, if this is some kind of flirty scheme, I'm gonna deck you." She sounded ticked off, but her face told the opposite.

"What? No, that's not my style. My way of hitting on a girl is 'wanna see my metric conversions chart?'" I say pulling out the conversions chart I keep in my toolbox. She laughed and put her feet up on the dash, and I could tell she was getting more comfortable. She seemed to be pondering something, and when I asked her, she told me,

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking," she hesitated, then continued. "Did you want to bring a friend or anything? I can get kind of annoying."

"Nah, it's cool. We're almost there anyway. Maybe next time." Truth was, I didn't want my friends coming along at this moment. I wanted her all to myself.


	2. Chapter 2

The beach was my favorite place to be. Especially on that day. We got to the beach by 2:30. Sydney wasn't annoying at all. She was bounding with energy and up for anything I suggested. The ocean was kind of cold, but nothing we couldn't handle. We played football and walked on the boardwalk; she even let me put my arm around her, though I think she saw it as more playfully than flirty. If only she knew that I already had a crush on her after meeting her earlier that month. We did exchange phone numbers at some point during the day, though, which made me happy. Sadly, the day had to come to a close at around 6 when Sydney told me she planned to go to a movie with a friend later. The last thing Sydney wanted to do before we left was have a final race into the water.

"Okay, so we start from here, then whoever dives into the waves first wins!"

"Oh, you are so on. You want a head start?" I asked her, being the polite boy I really wasn't. She snorted.

"You're gonna need a head start, buddy. Too bad I don't believe in them. On your marks, get set, GO!" We both tore off, bounding towards the water like idiots, neck and neck. I had to admit, she was really fast. Then, when I lost focus for one second when we were close to the water, she cut me off and sped up, laughing. She was _not_ getting away with that. I got faster and faster, catching up to her, until I was right behind her. We were knee deep in the water by then. I grabbed her by the shoulders and tackled her down into the water. We both sat up in the water, gasping for air and laughing.

"I win!" She said giggling.

"What? No way, I totally won, I'm the whole reason you went in."

"No, I was planning on falling like that before you tackled me!" We had a good laugh and dried off. Then I had to take her home. When we got into the truck, she slid in close to me without protesting and put her feet on the dash once again. She was quiet, so I took the time to think. _Is this considered a date? _I asked myself. We were halfway home when I looked down to see her sleeping on my shoulder. I smiled to myself, thinking about all of the cute and ditzy moments she had today, like when she asked for a hot dog at the pizza place. She was adorable. I woke her up when we were about ten minutes from her house.

"Hey, Syd, wake up, we're almost home." She opened her eyes groggily. She seemed a bit puzzled.

"Cameron?"

"Yeah?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I fell asleep." She lifted herself off of my shoulder.

"I noticed," I smirked at her and pretended to brush off the place on my shirt where she slept. She laughed and slapped me playfully. When we got to her house I walked her to her door like a good date should. She smiled at me when we got to the door.

"Thanks for putting up with me all day."

"Putting up with you? It was awesome, I had so much fun."

"Sweet, then we can do this again. You're really cool, Cameron." I smiled. I don't know what got into me but I got the courage to say,

"I really like you, Sydney." She smiled back, and the next thing I knew her lips were on mine. The kiss wasn't extremely passionate, just gentle and tentative. We both pulled away with small smiles. She stared at me for a while until suddenly laughing under her breath and turning on her heel to open the door and walk into her house.

"Bye, Cameron," I heard the smile in her sing-song voice as she shut the door in my face.

"Bye, Sydney," I said, though I was completely aware that she couldn't hear me. I probably stood there for three minutes, thinking over the day, until I walked out to the driveway and got in my truck to go home.

Sydney's P.O.V

"Hey, Tanya," I said to my best friend as I greeted her at the movie theater. Her hair was always straightened and almost black; there were large chunks of subtle purple in it that almost glowed in the florescence of the theater lobby lights. She looked extremely thin in a black camisole, leather jacket, flattering black jeggings, and black leather boots with no heel. She looked like a biker chick, even though I knew she was the most funloving teddy bear of a girl. Classic Tanya. She gave me a hug, looked me up and down, and gave me a knowing stare.

"Something happened. With a boy! Was it that Cameron guy you were talking about? Tell me!"

"Yeah, but can't we at least watch the movie first?"

"No!" She practically yelled as we walked into the theater and took the seats all the way at the back in the top like we always did. I don't even remember what movie it was, because we spent the whole two and a half hours discussing the events of my day and dissecting Cameron's dialogue. The young-ish lady in front of us kept shushing us. After a while, Tanya opened her big mouth and whisper-yelled,

"Oh, shut up, lady, like you've never met a hot guy and had your first kind-of-date and kissed him and not even know if he likes you as much as you like him and freaked out before!" The lady was really interested, so she just moved to our row and chatted with us for the rest of the movie. She was probably in her late twenties/early thirties. Turned out she worked at one of those love counseling offices, so it wasn't as creepy as I thought. When she found out his name was Cameron, she asked what he looked like. I told her, and she said,

"I think the guy you're talking about is my nephew, Cameron. What was his last name?"

"He told me, but I don't remember how to say it. He said it was spelled with a Q." I told the lady.

"Was it Quiseng?"

"Yes!" She smiled.

"Then that is my nephew. I'm Evie Quiseng. He's such a sweetheart, he's only had one girlfriend, Emily, and she cheated on him for money." Tanya was really into all of this.

"No way! What a lousy sl-" I stopped her

"Tanya, we're in public!"

"Right, sorry."

"Anyway," Evie continued, "he was heartbroken, and hasn't been the same since. But if he acted the way you say he did on your kind-of-date, then it sounds like he's gotten over Emily. Maybe for you, Sydney." Just then my phone vibrated. I had a message from Cameron.

** Cameron: Hey:) I know ur probably in the movies right now but i thought i would tell u i had a lot of fun today:) i hope we can do that again:)**

When I showed Evie the text, she got extremely excited.

"See, that's the old Cameron's texts, full of smiley faces and caring! Girl, I owe you!" By then the movie was over. "Here, take my card, and if either of you ever want to talk, just call me or text me. And I'll talk to Cameron for you, Sydney, see what I can get out of him. It was nice meeting you girls!" After saying our goodbyes, Tanya and I went to hang at the mall. It was about nine thirty. We just browsed through random stores and bought a couple things. Then we went to the food court and bought a bunch of different foods, sat at a table, and started devouring it. Halfway into a burrito, I saw this group of boys about my age walk in. They were pretty hot, so I nudged Tanya and gestured toward them, which earned a "OOOH!" from Tanya and a look from the boys. I immediately dropped my burrito and elbowed Tanya as they started walking towards us.

"Tanya, Cameron's in that group of hot guys!"

"NO WAY! WHICH ONE?"

"Be quiet! The one with the messy dark hair and green eyes that's talking to the other ones."

"HOLY CRAP! HE'S HOT!"

"Shut up! They're coming over here! Don't make any comments, you hear me?" By that time they were right in front of us. Cameron smirked at me and sat down at the table, scooching closer to me with the three others behind his chair.

"Hello, ladies. I'm Cameron, and you are?" he said, staring at me with those amazing eyes, apparently expecting an answer. Just as I opened my mouth to answer, he said, "No, wait let me guess. It's either Mary, Kelsey, or Lisa. I'm guessing it's Kelsey. Or Bertha." He grinned at me, not being able to keep a straight face anymore. "Hey Syd." He then looked at Tanya, and I could tell she was practically swooning. "And you are the girl that stole my precious Sydney," he joked, grinning and clinging onto my shoulders for dear life, as if he was protecting me from Tanya. Then he held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"It's Tanya," she said ignoring the gesture, now scrutinizing him to see if he was good enough for me. Oh, how I loved my best friend. Just then, as if someone signalled it, Cameron's three friends simultaneously dragged over chairs and sat down with us. A cute boy with dark hair and bright blue eyes smiled at me and said, "So you're the famous Sydney we've heard so much about. I'm Zach, " Then looking at Tanya, he said, "And you're obviously Tanya."

"Ooh, cheetos!" said a boy with dreads and darker skin. "May I?" He asked. Tanya nodded. He grabbed a bag from our table and started chowing down. "Shup I'b Naffen." After swallowing, he repeated it, "I said, 'Sup I'm Nathan."

The last boy, who looked Filipino and was all dimples, smiled and said, "Michael Martinez, the Finest, just for you, baby girls." I was still proccessing what Zach had said. Cameron talked about me? Yay!

"Syd!" I came back to earth with Cameron poking me in my side.

"Huh? What?" Cameron grinned at me.

"You zoned out, Syd. Where were you, France?" Just then Nathan laughed, cheeto bits flying everywhere, and said,

"Yehhhh che wath ind a pomanthick paffishan dgemlen reshton wiff camelon!" He swallowed, and said again, "Yeah she was in a romantic Parisian dreamland resturaunt with Cameron." I blushed and threw a fry at him and it whacked him square in the forehead. He picked it up and ate it smirking at me. Just then Tanya decided she was bored.

"Hey, Sydney, wanna come to Hot Topic with me and annoy the guy at the counter again?" I didn't want to leave, and I didn't think Cam wanted me to either. Zach popped up out of his seat.

"I'll go with you!" Tanya kept a straight face, but her eyebrows were doing this twitchy thing they do when she's excited.

"Cool. Let's go, Zach." They left to go wreak havoc on a goth cashier. Then Nathan and Michael decided they wanted to go to the music store.

"See you guys," Michael called over his shoulder, winking at me. Weirdo.

I was all alone with Cameron.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey readers, here's chapter three! Tell me how you like!**

Tanya's P.O.V.

"So, Tanya."  
>"So, Zach. What?" I asked him.<p>

"How about we skip the Hot Topic thing and do something else?" I smirked and looked back at our table where only Cameron and Sydney were left.

"Sure. My plan worked, though. Look, they're alone." Zach looked back and laughed.

"So that's what this was about?"

"Yeah, the fact that you tagged along just made it easier. Which makes me wonder, why did you tag along?" Zach blushed.

"Oh, I don't know, I just thought you'd be fun to hang with." I smirked again. I liked smirking. Guys thought us girls didn't realize that they were trying to get with us. Idiots. We walked around for a while until Zach got all excited and pulled me into a toy store. He was playfully immature, just like me! We played with nerf guns until the store lady made us leave. It was so fun! He brought out my happy, funloving side, which made me super excited. Nobody, well, no guy had brought out the good in me, except for Bryan- but let's not think about that. Zach was a total hottie, which was a definite pro. He was also an amazing gentleman, even though he didn't look like it. Wait, was I falling for this fool? No. No, I wasn't. Even though he was adorable. And sweet. And funny. And- WHAT WAS I SAYING!

"What's wrong?" Zach looked concerned. Dang, I must have done that thing where I say things or sigh or groan without noticing.

"Oh, nothing, I'm just hungry, that's all." He laughed.

"You sure can eat."

"So I've been told." Zach ran over to the cinnibon place and bought me a cinnibon. He came back with it and I thanked him.

"Don't mention it," he told me, smiling. Wait, why were there butterflies in my stomach? This was not normal. I didn't like Zach. No, I couldn't. I wouldn't. _Zach has really pretty blue eyes, _I randomly thought. Just like Bryan's. Ugh. "Thank you. Who's Bryan?" Zach asked curiously. Wait, did I say that out loud? Oh man, I did.

"I didn't realize I said that out loud, sorry. Bryan was my... Bryan is my ex-boyfriend." I coughed awkwardly.

"Jeez, why would anyone break up with you? I'd be too afraid to; this guy sounds like he's on your bad side." He looked at me, surprisingly sincere.

"Yeah, um, he kind of used to hit me. And we didn't exactly break up, I got a restraining order and moved away. It was two years ago, but I still think about it a lot. Haven't dated since." My eyes were starting to water. I couldn't stop thinking about Bryan once bringing him up.

"Wow, I'm sorry. That sounds really hard to deal with. I hate breakups, even when they aren't mine. Like, Cameron's ex-girlfriend Emily, she cheated-even that doesn't sound harsh enough for what she did to him. But she did it for money. It was terrible. He really loved her." I coughed a little, trying to blink away the tears.

"Can we get some air?" I asked, heading for the door.

It was a cold night, and the stars were beautiful. We found a bench and sat down. A cool breeze swept through the mall parking lot and I shivered. This was much more than just-a-cami-and-leather-jacket weather.

"Hey, you cold?" Zach asked, already pulling off his jacket to give me.

"No, I'm fine." My teeth began to chatter, giving me away. Zach draped his jacket around my shoulders anyway.

"Sure you are," he said, chuckling. When I looked at him and shrugged off the jacket, he added, "You know, you're the first girl that's ever refused my jacket." I snorted.

"How many other girls have you ever offered your jacket to?" He grinned.

"One, and that was my cousin. So, you see, I must like you a lot."

"Or you are just extremely inexperienced with the ladies."

"Not true! But I do think you're different. My attempts at flirting usually work. Maybe I've lost my touch."

"Why do you think it's not working?" I asked him, amused.

"Well, this girl I'm flirting with right now doesn't realize that I'm trying to tell her I like her." I tried super hard not to smile with all I had.

"Well maybe she notices but decides to ignore it."

"How do I know that for sure, though?"

"Trust me, she knows you like her, she's just too confused to tell you if she likes you or not."

"So how can she figure it out? How can I figure it out?"

"You'll just have to find a way."Then, all of a sudden, Zach lowered his voice to just above a whisper.

"What do you think she'd do if I kissed her right now?" His face was inches from mine. I could feel his warm breathe, and I couldn't help but give him a small smile.

"I think she'd kiss you back." He smiled and leaned in to kiss me. He brushed his lips against mine when my phone rang. Why couldn't it have been on silent? Or rung after he kissed me? I heard the crazy frog ringtone, Sydney's ringer, and knew I had to pick it up. "It's Sydney," I sighed. It stopped ringing. Syd must have gotten impatient again.

"Can't she wait like ten minutes?" Zach whined. His lips brushed against mine as he talked. Sydney called again. "I guess that's a no." I wanted to kiss him so bad! No, I wouldn't give in to him. I brought my phone up to my ear, my face still extremely close to Zach's.

"'Sup."

"Tanya! Where are you two? Cameron and I came to Hot Topic and you weren't there," Sydney said on the other line. I sighed.

"We're outside."

"Why?"

"Long story. We'll be in in a minute."

"Fine, but hurry. I'm tired." Then I heard Cameron in the background.

"Babe, I can take you home if you want to leave," he offered.

"Babe? I will be there in like thirty seconds, now!" I hung up and turned away from Zach. "Let's go!" I didn't have to explain anything because he was two inches away from my ear, he had obviously heard the conversation. As we stood up, I checked my phone for the time. Holy wow, we had been outside for almost an hour. Where did the time go?I slid my hand down Zach's arm and took his hand. "See, this is how normal relationships start on the first date. Hand holding first, kissing later, if you're lucky." Zach seemed surprised, and then he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"So, um... You count this as a date?" He seemed excited, yet surprised.

"Well, it's romantic, and just you and me, so if you want to call it a date then I want to call it a date." Zach smiled and quickly responded.

"Yes, yes, I want to call it a date. Does that mean I get to go on a second date with you?"

"Yes, yes it does." We just walked in a happy chatter of things going on in this town and other towns around our area. I could not wait to see Cameron and Sydney, together, as a couple. Sydney was now Cameron's, and Cameron was Sydney's. And hopefully, in time, I would be Zach's and Zach would be mine.


End file.
